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Topic: BRIAN DE PALMA (Read 33133 times)

Redacted is, in many ways, a study by one of the world's greatest filmmakers on his own themes and obsessions. I don't think it is, at all, a cool found footage movie attempt, but instead a way to reflect on the images that are constantly present in our lives. It's about the manipulation of images, it's about how they are used in the context of war, as a weapon, as propaganda. It is, finally, a ferocious attack on the media coverage of that particular war, and on that respect, no "found footage" movie ever had a scene as strong as Redacted's final scene, where a completely wrecked soldier who saw a major attrocity being commited on war, ends up posing for a photo in the end, and that's the moment that prevails: the soldier's smile, as could be sold by news stations to sell the war in Iraq. So, to call it bullshit direction when De Palma clearly knows exactly what he's doing and who he's doing it to is... well, bullshit. It's a great movie about the flux of information, and even about what information means today. It's as De Palma as De Palma gets.

EXCLUSIVE: The Scarface team of director Brian De Palma and Al Pacino are re-teaming for Happy Valley, the working title of a film that will tell the story of Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno. Paterno’s legend was undone by revelations he and others in the football program were aware that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was molesting children, and did little to stop it, supposedly fearing bad publicity for the powerhouse gridiron program they presided over. Wall Street producer Edward R. Pressman has optioned the bestselling book Paterno by Joe Posnanski. Dave McKenna (American History X and Blow) is making a deal to write the script. The Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation is backing the project.

Pacino became attached to play Paterno when a package including the book was shopped by ICM last fall. Pressman will produce with Pacino’s manager, Rick Nicita, who was part of that original package. They are keeping a somewhat low profile on the focus of the film for now. “Happy Valley reunites the Scarface and Carlito’s Way team of De Palma & Pacino for the third time and I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw,” said Pressman in confirming the deal to Deadline.

Paterno’s fall from grace was Shakespearean and when he died shortly after his firing, many felt it was from a broken heart as much as cancer. He was in the twilight of a coaching career that left him the winningest coach in college football history, an iconic and beloved campus figure. Until his former defensive coordinator Sandusky was revealed to be a prolific pedophile, something that Paterno had been told about. While he informed an administrator, they did not call police, even after a graduate assistant and future assistant coach witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a child in the locker room showers.

An investigation led the university to abruptly fire Paterno, and his cherished football program was crushed. Penn State is reeling after unprecedented sanctions dropped by the NCAA. The university tore down a fabled statue of Paterno, and the NCAA stripped the coach’s wins going back to the coverup. Posthumously, he is no longer the winniningest college coach in history. More importantly, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 counts of sexual abuse against young boys and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

There are so many themes to deal with here, from Paterno’s rise and his loyalty to a football program he spent his life building, to the obvious question of how a molder of young men could possibly have stood silently by when told that one of his former coaches started a charity for underprivileged kids and used it as a way to ingratiate himself into vulnerable young fatherless boys for sexual encounters? The failure of Paterno and university officials to act allowed Sandusky to continue molesting boys for years, which was borne out in court testimony leading to his conviction and incarceration. Posnanski was working on a book about Paterno and was well into it when the scandal broke. The book is as much about what made Paterno tick as anything else, and capturing complex characters is something Pacino does well. He played a conflicted pro football coach in Any Given Sunday, and Jack Kevorkian in the HBO film You Don’t Know Jack.

De Palma most recently directed Passion, the Rachel McAdams/Noomi Rapace-starrer that premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Pressman’s COO Jon Katz will be exec producer and Posnanski co-producer. De Palma is repped by ICM, Pacino by CAA and Nicita, McKenna by Paradigm and Mosaic.

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

It’s been 20 months since Deadline broke the story of the Scarface duo of director Brian De Palma and Al Pacino’s re-teaming for Happy Valley. The film chronicles the fall of Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, whose legend was undone by revelations he and others in the football program were aware that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was molesting children, and did little to stop it.

We can exclusively report that the project, based on the bestselling book Paterno by Joe Posnanski, had been quietly picked up by HBO, where Pacino has done two movies, portraying controversial figures: You Don’t Know Jack, about Jack Kevorkian, and Phil Spector. Happy Valley has been undergoing casting, with John Carroll Lynch recently tapped to play Sandusky. Other cast deals had been in different stages too, but we’ve heard that casting sessions on the project had been cancelled and other prep work put on hold, triggering speculation whether the hot-button movie, reopening one of the darkest pages in college football history, may have been scrapped.

That is not the case, a rep for HBO said. “We have not killed the project, so to say so inaccurate,” the network said in a statement to Deadline. “We have suspended pre-production for a moment to deal with budget issues, but the project is still intact at HBO with the entire creative team as before.”

According to sources, the suspension would also be used for additional script work. Wall Street producer Edward R. Pressman, who had optioned the book, is producing Happy Valley with Pacino’s manager Rick Nicita. Jon Katz is executive producing.

Paterno’s fall from grace was Shakespearean and when he died shortly after his firing — many felt it was from a broken heart as much as cancer. He was in the twilight of a career that left him the winningest coach in college football history, an iconic and beloved campus figure. Until his former defensive coordinator Sandusky was revealed to be a prolific pedophile, something that Paterno had been told about. While he informed an administrator, they did not call police, even after a graduate assistant and future assistant coach witnessed Sandusky in an encounter that looked like an act of sodomy with a child in the locker room showers.

"Scarface"/"Carlito's Way" duo Brian De Palma and Al Pacino have evidently been trying to find a way to work together again. Over at HBO, the pair was working on "Happy Valley," a project about the 2011 Penn State scandal until the network halted production in September, and there has been zero word since. But the pair have lined up another gig.

Screen Daily reports that De Palma and Pacino are teaming for "Retribution." Loosely based on the 2003 Belgian thriller "The Memory Of A Killer" (trailer below), the story follows a cop and a hitman who work together to stop a child prostitution ring.

Brian De Palma is to direct action thriller “Lights Out,” which is backed by China’s Huace Pictures and Arclight Films.

The film is the story of a blind Chinese girl unknowingly caught in a plot to expose a top-secret assassination program. Although blind, she is able to use her other heightened senses to fight back and become a hero.

Casting is currently underway for top roles, including an A-list Chinese actress to star as the female action hero lead.

The film is the first to be made by Aurora Alliance Films the joint venture banner between Huace, one of China’s leading TV producers, and Sydney- and Los Angeles-based Arclight. The joint venture company was announced in September with a $300 million slate of high concept action pictures.

De Palma, an iconic member of the ‘New Hollywood’ wave, is one of Hollywood’s top brand name directors. He was recently honoured with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. Directing credits include “Scarface,” “The Untouchables,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Carrie.”

“De Palma is a proven master of suspense; in the hands of the legendary director, ‘Lights Out’ promises to be a thriller for the ages, full of empowering messages, harrowing plot turns and great action sequences,” said Ying Ye, MD of Aurora Alliance.

“Lights Out,” now in pre-production, will be produced by Huace Media Group; Ye of Aurora Alliance; Gary Hamilton, Mike Gabrawy, Elliot Tong of Arclight; with Toronto-based Jennifer Weiss and Simone Urdl of The Film Farm. Arclight Films is handling international sales.

Brian De Palma is represented by John Burnham of ICM and attorney Donald Steele.

The screenplay is by Lamont Magee and Jeff W. Byrd, who are represented by Ryan Saul at APA. French-born director Xavier Gens was previously attached to direct.

Brian De Palma To Direct Thriller 'The Truth And Other Lies'via The Playlist

Deadline reports that De Palma will helm an adaptation of Sascha Arango's novel "The Truth And Other Lies." The black comedy, which will have a script from the author, follows a man, whose wife secretly authors his best-selling novels, who can't let go of his mistress. Here's the book synopsis:

Henry Hayden seems like someone you might admire, or even come to think of as a friend. A famous bestselling author. A loving and devoted husband. A generous and considerate neighbor. But Henry Hayden is a construction, a mask. His past is a secret, his methods more so. Only he and his wife know that she is the actual writer of the novels that made him famous.

When his hidden-in-plain-sight mistress becomes pregnant, it seems his carefully conceived façade is about to crumble. And on a rain-soaked night at the edge of a dangerous cliff, his permanent solution becomes his most terrible mistake.

Now not only are the police after Henry but his past — which he has painstakingly kept hidden — threatens to catch up with him as well. Henry is an ingenious man, and he works out an ingenious plan, weaving lies, truths, and half-truths into a story that might help him survive. Still, the noose tightens.

Brian De Palma Returns To Directing With Thriller Starring Nicolaj Coster-Waldau From ‘Game Of Thrones’via The Playlist

Not all that long ago, Brian De Palma was a bankable A-list helmer, with hits like “Scarface,” “The Untouchables” and “Mission: Impossible” under his belt. But the last ten years have been a bit rough for the filmmaker: he’s only made two movies, the semi-experimental “Redacted,” which won the Golden Lion at Venice but proved divisive in the extreme with critics, and little-seen Rachel McAdams thriller “Passion.”

The latter was five years ago, but De Palma’s been talked about in his absence from filmmaking, thanks to the patronage of younger filmmakers who grew up on his work, like Edgar Wright, who frequently sings his praises, and Noah Baumbach, who made last year’s excellent documentary “De Palma” about the helmer and his work. And the latter might just have inspired a new surge of interest in the filmmaker, because it looks like the 76-year-old helmer is getting back behind the camera.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that De Palma will direct the thriller “Domino”, with Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (best known as Jamie Lannister from “Game Of Thrones”) and “Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks in talks to star.

Penned by “Kon-Tiki” screenwriter Petter Skavlan, the film will see Coster-Waldau play a Danish police officer seeking vengeance for his partner’s murder, teaming up with his late partner’s mistress (Hendricks) to take the man down, only to be caught up with the CIA along the way. The project will be seeking sales at Cannes

Brian De Palma Returns To Directing With Thriller Starring Nicolaj Coster-Waldau From ‘Game Of Thrones’via The Playlist

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that De Palma will direct the thriller “Domino”, with Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (best known as Jamie Lannister from “Game Of Thrones”) and “Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks in talks to star.

Penned by “Kon-Tiki” screenwriter Petter Skavlan, the film will see Coster-Waldau play a Danish police officer seeking vengeance for his partner’s murder, teaming up with his late partner’s mistress (Hendricks) to take the man down, only to be caught up with the CIA along the way. The project will be seeking sales at Cannes

“The 77-year-old director’s new feature, Domino, features two stars from Game of Thrones (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Carice van Houten), a plotline involving the CIA and ISIS, and, reportedly, an epic 148-minute running time that would make it BDP’s longest movie in the 35 years since Scarface.”